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April 10, 2006 Vol. 77, no.
12S
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| SMARTER AG: From
left, Joe Urich, Brian Sosnowchik, Alex Do (back row), Thomas “Trey” Cauley,
and Martin White with the original VinePod. Sosnowchik, Do,
and Cauley are continuing the project. (Photo provided by AgLinx)
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A wireless watchdog for Napa vineyards
This time of year in Napa Valley, grapevines come out of dormancy
and develop tender buds, causing vineyard managers to lose sleep. If
the temperature dips below freezing, frost may develop and damage a
year’s worth of crops. During a frost in 2001, one vineyard alone
lost $750,000 worth of grapes.
To avoid that, workers stay up all night monitoring air temperature
across the vineyard with thermometers. If the temperature drops below
freezing in any one area, they have 30 minutes to initiate crop-saving
measures such as running sprinklers or heating the air with oil-drum
fires. But what if there was a better way to monitor the vineyard,
giving field managers more lead time to save their crop? What if managers
knew the exact conditions in their vineyard at any given point?
ME graduate student Alex Do wondered the same thing when Andrew Isaacs,
a Haas School of Business professor and novice winemaker, explained
Napa’s frost problem over a student-professor dinner in the spring
of 2004. The problem so intrigued Do that in the fall he pitched it
as a project to fellow students taking a Management of Technology new
product design class.
ME graduate students Thomas “Trey” Cauley and Brian Sosnowchik,
Haas student Martin White and California College of Arts industrial design
student Joe Urich signed on. “We ended up with five guys who really
like wine,” Do says, smiling. That semester, the team delved into
the complexities of viticulture, interviewing field managers and observing
frost prevention techniques. They discovered a deep skepticism of technology
among grape growers and knew they’d have to build reliability,
simplicity and affordability into their design. After long hours of brainstorming and modeling, the team came up with
their initial prototype dubbed “VinePod.” The unit was comprised
of a 12-foot pole with a sensor unit midway up that could wirelessly
measure air temperature. LED lights at the top served as a signaling
beacon that communicated basic temperature information via a wireless
network. In the field house, managers received the data on customized
computer software to help them assess areas with the greatest potential
for frost. The team also created a business plan and, in the spring of
2005, entered the Berkeley Business Plan Competition, reaching the semifinals.
AgLinx, as the group is now called, will begin field-testing the second
generation of the VinePod this summer. The complete system will monitor
not only air temperature, but also soil moisture humidity and leaf-wetness.
VinePod promises to help growers manage water and chemical resources
more efficiently, and in the process, boost profits. If it’s successful,
the ancient practice of growing wine grapes will receive a modern update.
For more information, go to www.aglinxsolutions.com/index.htm.
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